Before he landed his gig as the Red Power Ranger, Steve Cardenas had no real intention of becoming an actor.

Granted, those of you not in the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” cult may say that, in fact, he never really did. And you would be tacky, though perhaps not altogether wrong.

But Cardenas did make a long-lasting impact as Rocky on the cult children’s TV show, on which he starred in the 1990s — enough that several readers flipped the flip out when I posted on Facebook about interviewing him.

The Texas native will headline the inaugural YC3 Minicon, a comic book convention scheduled for Saturday at The Table’s Edge Gaming and Comic Store, 4515 S. Georgia St., Suite 135. (Main story here.)

“I didn’t get the acting bug at all,” Cardenas said of his time on the show. “I was not an actor, and I knew I wasn’t.”

So when he left the show a year before his contract was up following a financial dispute with producers, Cardenas stayed with what he knew — running a martial arts studio.

“Either I could spend my time running schools that make you money or go to auditions and get maybe three jobs a year,” he said. “I knew I would have to devote a lot of time to developing the craft, and I didn’t want to take that time.

“I just got lucky on my one audition.”

The con also will feature appearances by longtime Marvel Comics inker Sam de la Rosa, area artists like Greg Harms, and more.

I’ll reveal my picks for all of this year’s winners on the ballot, locking me in on some races that I’m feeling very fluid about.

Fill out your Oscar ballot at amarillo.com/entertainment and submit your picks for winners by 6 p.m. March 2. If you beat me or if you have the worst ballot, you’ll be entered to win a fantastic selection of DVDs, provided by Hastings.

If you haven’t yet caught all of this year’s major nominees, the Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive, will begin its marathon of this year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees today.

“Gravity” (in 3-D) and “The Wolf of Wall Street” will screen first, followed by “Nebraska,” “Captain Phillips,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Her” on Saturday. “Philomena,” “Dallas Buyers Club” and “American Hustle” will screen Sunday.

Then, all nine will get additional screenings through Thursday — two a night Monday through Wednesday, then three again on Thursday.

Cost is $40 for all nine Best Picture nominees; tickets are available on a single-film basis at regular admission price.

Following that, all 10 nominated live-action and animated short films will screen at 2 and 7 p.m. Feb. 28, 2 and 7 p.m. March 1 and 2 p.m. March 2.

These are the films that always mess up your office Oscar pool, so I expect you all to take advantage of the opportunity with me. I’ve only seen two of these films (the stunning animated film “Feral” and the delightful “Get a Horse!”, which is screening still with “Frozen”) and can’t wait to see the rest.

Cost is $10 for all 10 shorts.

All but three of the 15 nominated shorts (including the documentary shorts) also will be available Tuesday via video-on-demand services iTunes and Amazon Instant Video through ShortsHD.

Only “Possessions,” documentary short “Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” (coming soon to HBO) and “Get a Horse!” won’t be available.

Plus, Cinemark will use the next round of its classic films series to salute past Oscar nominees and winners.

The series kicks off Sunday and Wednesday with the 1954 Marlon Brando classic “On the Waterfront.”

It continues with “Rear Window” on March 2 and 5, “Chicago” on March 9 and 12, “The Grapes of Wrath” on March 16 and 19, “The Shawshank Redemption” on March 23 and 26, and “The Silence of the Lambs” on Mach 30 and April 2.